Shoe-form.



A. G. LEGGE.

SHOE FORM.

APPLICATION FILED 001'. 9, 1912.

Patented 0013.27, 1914.

.1 1m ZWW TH!" NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTO LIT/n 1, WASHINGTON. D a

ALFRED G. LEGGE, OF BRDGKTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE-FORM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

Application filed October 9, 1912. Serial No. 724,706.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALFRED Gr. Lnoon, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brockton, county of Plymouth, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Shoe-Forms, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to a new and improved shoe form which shall have as an integral part thereof a top which will fill and close the ankle opening of a low shoe or Oxford.

It is very desirable that shoe forms be provided with a top to close the ankle opening and upon which the name of the shoe manufacturer or other advertising matter may be displayed, and which will give to the shoe, when on the shoe form, a more attractive and complete appearance. Heretofore such tops have been made, but they have been separate from the shoe form and.

' therefore have not filled the shoe perfectly,

have been difficult to insert, and have not always remained in place properly. Another method of accomplishing this result has been to make a shoe form having a separate piece inserted in the ankle opening of the shoe form and glued therein, but a shoe form thus constructed presents an unfinished appearance unless it is covered with silk and also it has been found impossible to make such a form with inturned edges which lie against the sole of the shoe, because such edges make it impossible to remove the form from the last during the process of manufacture.

The shoe form embodying my present invention has the edges just referred to, and has formed as a part thereof a top which closes the ankle opening of the shoe and presents exactly the same appearance as a separate top, but being integral with the remainder of the shoe form is never displaced and fits the shoe perfectly.

The shoe form when in the shoe closely approximates in appearance a wooden last which has been enameled or covered but is light and inexpensive and embodies all the advantages of the ordinary leatherboard shoe form. y

In order to more clearly describe my novel shoe form I have hereinafter set forth to some extent the process by which it is constructed.

The invention will be fully understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features thereof will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of the specification.

In the drawings, Figure l is a view in perspective of a shoe form embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a pattern showing the shape on a smaller scale to which the material of the shoe form is cut. Fig. 4: shows the form of the material after it has been subjected to the crimping operation and has been stitched. Fig. 5 shows the material after it has been turned and is ready to be lasted. Fig. 6 shows the material on the last. Fig. 7 is a section on line 7-7 of Fig. 1 showing the covering strip for the top of the shoe form.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Fig. 3 there is shown at A the material for a shoe form embodying my invention after it has been cut out. The material is the ordinary leatherboard such as is used in the manufacture of shoe forms. The material is cut with two heel portions B and C intended to be joined along the median line of the shoe form at the top thereof. The material is shown folded along the line a and is crimped while damp in a crimping machine. It then has the shape shown in Fig. 4., the line a of the toe having been changed from a straight line to a curved line by the crimpingoperation, so that it fits the ball of the last. The heel portions are then stitched together along the line b. Thereafter the material is turned inside out, so that the seam will come on the inside. It is illustrated in this condition in Fig. 5. The material is then stretched over a last and tacked onto it.

It will be seen that the shoe form has inturned edges D which are turned over the bottom of the last and which when the shoe form is in place in a shoe are adjacent the insole of the shoe and strengthen and support the form. It will also be seen that the two rear portions B and G depending from the top F, see Fig. 1, extend downwardly only a relatively short distance and do not extend below the extreme point of the bulge of the heel of the last. By making the shoe form of the shape described at the heel it is possible to spring the form ofl" the last after it has been dried or baked, even though the form is provided with sole engaging edges, but this could not be done if the heel portion extended below the extreme point of the bulge of the heel. After the shoe form has been leaked or dried and the tacks which secure the form to the last have been removed the form is sprung 0E from the last, a top strip G having an outline corresponding to the outline of the edge of the top surface is glued onto the top and covers the seam. This strip may be printed with the name or other advertising matter and this may be conveniently done before the strip is applied to the form, thereby making it possible to do more satisfactory work than if the at tempt is made to print directly on the top of the shoe form. Thereafter the shoe form is varnished in any well known manner, and may be supplied with braces or reinforces such as are shown at H and I in Fig. 1.

The heel portion of the shoe form thus described when in place in a shoe extends downwardly far enough to come well below the upper edge of the counter at the ankle opening so that when the shoe is raised the form is held firmly in place and the shoe presents a perfectly smooth appearance exactly the same as if it were on a solid last. The shoe form described is very easily inserted in a shoe and can be removed equally easily but cannot become displaced in use. The shoe fits the shoe form much better than when a separate top is used on a leatherboard shoe form, and the shape given to the shoe is truer; also there is no ridge or line visible as is the case where a separate top is employed.

The inturned the insole of the shoe are an important feature because forms which are made without 1 such edges lie lower in the shoe a distance equal to a thickness of the material, and

edges lying in contact with 1 therefore are not quite the size intended so that the shoe does not fit the form as perfectly as it should. Furthermore, the form is stiffened and strengthened by these edges.

What I claim is:

1. A hollow shoe form made from a single piece of sheet material suitably shaped so as to comprise a forward toe or body portion with inturned lower edges, and a rear or heel portion with top inturned abutting parts stitched together on a central line and forming a completely closed top at the ankle part, the depending walls of the said heel portion extending downward from said closed top to the bulge of the heel only, combined with an outer finishing strip covering the joint between the said abuttingparts of said closed top.

2. A hollow shoe piece of sheet material suitably shaped so as to comprise a forward toe or body portion with inturned lower edges, and a rear or heel portion with top inturned abutting partsv stitched together on a central line and forming a completely closed top at the ankle part, the depending walls of the said heel portion extending downward from said closed top to the bulge of the heel only, combined with a brace or reinforce connecting said inturned lower edges at the forward or body part of the form, the second brace or reinforce at the extreme heel portion of the form, and a finishing strip covering the joint between the said abutting parts of 1 said closed top.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature,

in presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED G. LEGGE.

Witnesses:

GEORGE P. DIKE, Anion H. MORRISON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

form made from a single V 

